Special
Archives February 2004
Child
Smiles
By Pat Lawrence
Ashley Patnoe at her best. |
Children love show and tell and Ashley Patnoe is a show and tell specialist.
The Charleston pediatric dentist intended to be an elementary teacher,
majoring in elementary education at WVU. But, working for her father,
Charleston endodontist Dr. Wayne Christian, during summers and after
schools, she was gradually drawn into the field of dentistry. “
He enjoyed teaching and I enjoyed learning. It was a special time for
us. And, pediatric dentistry turned out to be a perfect fit for me.”
Most of her patients are ten and under. She says, “The
goal is always to start early, to establish good oral health and to
create good dental patients for life.” Although Charleston
is fortunate to have several pediatric dentists, nationally the 3% of
dentists with pediatric specialties handle 20% of the pediatric population.
Pediatric dentists receive more medical and psychological training in
their specialty, since they perform a very broad range of services,
including orthodontics, on patients from birth to age 18. Dr.
Patnoe makes use of behavior management techniques to explain procedures
to her patients. “Tell the child, show the child, and then
do the procedure.” Light oral sedatives can be administered
to help reduce anxiety or discomfort. Nitrous oxide can supplement
the oral sedatives. “We use safe drugs in small amounts according
to the child’s weight.”
Serious dental problems or special circumstances may be managed in
a hospital setting. “If several procedures are needed, we can
do all of them in one visit. Sometimes, for example, with autistic children,
simple procedures are performed in the operating room. If there is any
reason the child needs to be asleep, we go to the hospital. It
is safe way to treat the child and much easier on them.”
Dr. Patnoe says “The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry
recommends every child have an infant or toddler oral exam by their
first birthday or after the eruption of their first tooth to make sure
teeth are erupting properly. It’s also a time to counsel parents
on oral hygiene, feeding practices and eating habits that might cause
tooth decay or problems like childhood obesity and diabetes.”
She stresses the importance of baby teeth to parents. “Baby teeth
have a pulp chamber and a nerve just like adult teeth and children keep
their baby teeth till they are 13. Baby teeth guide permanent teeth
to the proper position, which is important to the development of speech,
to facial appearance and to the ability to eat. The care of baby
teeth can prevent a lot of problems for kids later on. ”
Dr. Patnoe says the community support for her practice has been wonderful.
“Starting the practice opened many doors and is allowing me to
grow beyond dentistry.” West Virginia almost lost her to
Michigan, where she met her husband and was practicing as an associate
in a Rochester Hills pediatric dentistry office. This past August,
“We came back to be with family. The opportunity to be a
woman business owner has been more gratifying than I ever expected.”
In a gentle irony, her husband Adam left private enterprise to become
an elementary school teacher.
Published case reports, with such daunting titles as “Peripheral
Ossifying Fibroma Associated with a Neonatal Tooth” and “Retrospective
Evaluation of Signs of Maltreatment in a Confirmed CAN Population”
reflect Dr. Patnoe’s professional expertise, but not the embracing
warmth and enthusiasm that is the foundation of her practice. She is
a firm believer in the tooth fairy- and the proud parent of a rabbit
named Steve- but, above all, she is a children’s advocate.
It’s what she loves and why her most impressive credentials come
from kids, who call her “awesome!”
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